On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) issued its much-anticipated COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) imposing requirements pertaining to...more
Soon after the Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or the “Act”) was passed in 2010, its critics initiated the first major legal effort to strike down the entire law as unconstitutional. That case, National Federation of Independent...more
On May 10, 2021 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and Title IX’s prohibitions on discrimination based on sex include discrimination on the basis of...more
On July 8, 2020, in the consolidated cases of Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania et al. and Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et al. v. Pennsylvania et al., the U.S. Supreme...more
7/20/2020
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employer Rights ,
HRSA ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v Pennsylvania ,
Religious Exemption ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump v Pennsylvania ,
U.S. Treasury
On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Bostock v. Clayton County and two related cases that presented the same issue: whether employment discrimination on the basis of an individual’s...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Over the past several weeks, human resources and employee benefits professionals (and their attorneys) have been scrambling to assemble staffing plans, telework arrangements and strategies for complying with the paid leave...more
4/18/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Diagnostic Tests ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Sick Leave
As businesses scramble to develop their plan for the weeks ahead, it’s important to identify aspects of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Response Act”) and related laws that are unclear at this point....more
It has been a dizzying few weeks for anyone trying to keep up with the steady stream of government directives and related information involving COVID-19. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Response Act”), Governor...more
Employers of drivers who hold commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) have been subject to U.S. Department of Transportation drug and alcohol testing requirements for over twenty-five years....more
1/3/2020
/ Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
FMCSA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Medical Review ,
Labor Regulations ,
Medical Review Officers (MROs) ,
Motor Carriers ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Safety Standards ,
Trucking Industry ,
Trucking Regulations
For decades, federal wage and hour regulations have required that non-discretionary bonuses paid to employees be included in the recipients’ “regular rate” for purposes of calculating their overtime premiums. In other words,...more
Perhaps the most significant EEO issue percolating through the federal court system right now is whether Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination encompasses discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and...more
9/28/2018
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Gender Neutral ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Over the past fifteen years, wellness programs have generated more than their fair share of litigation and regulatory scrutiny – primarily over the issue of whether they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. ...more
With increasing frequency, when employees sue their employer or former employer, they also name individual managers or the company’s owners as defendants in their suit. ...more
Keeping up with compliance requirements under Pennsylvania and federal laws can be challenging enough; however, for Pennsylvania employers that do business in multiple states, the compliance burden can grow exponentially. It...more
2/5/2018
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Smoking Bans ,
State and Local Government ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), employers are permitted to pay non-exempt employees a fixed salary to cover straight-time earnings for all hours worked in a week, provided several conditions are met...more
Every year, Pennsylvania’s appellate courts seem to issue a handful of decisions addressing the enforceability of non-compete agreements. However, there are relatively few court decisions addressing non-solicitation...more
As the cost of providing health coverage increased over the past fifteen years, many employers began to offer employees cash payments if they “opted out” of coverage. Some expected that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would...more
Have you by chance recently received an email from your company’s CEO requesting copies of employee W-2 forms? If so, don’t respond without first verbally confirming that the request is legitimate. Several of our clients in...more
Case Study. A manufacturer wants to promote better health among its workforce by implementing a wellness program. Trying to keep it simple, the employer tells employees that they will receive a $50 per month credit toward...more
Among the many requirements imposed by the Affordable Care Act, none are more controversial than the excise tax to be imposed on expensive health plans. This provision of the law, commonly known as the “Cadillac Tax,” would...more
One year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. et al, that for-profit closely held corporations must be permitted to opt out of the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate on...more
7/16/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Burwell v Hobby Lobby ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Healthcare ,
Opt-Outs ,
Religious Exemption ,
SCOTUS ,
TPAs
On June 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in King v. Burwell, ruling that Section 36B of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) authorizes insurance exchanges run by the federal government...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) generally prohibits employers from requiring current employees to submit to medical examinations or medical inquiries unless the exam or inquiry is “job-related and consistent with...more
On January 1, 2015, employers with 100 or more "full-time equivalents" will be subject to the "Pay or Play" regulations under the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"). Over the past few years, many consultants have sought to identify...more
On July 22, 2014, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in Halbig v. Burwell that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) authorizes the issuance of tax credits to assist...more